George Salazar Talks Spring Awakening and Finding God In Godspell During His Broadway Debut

Current Role: Making his Broadway debut in the beautiful city of Godspell (“the Gospel on steroids”) singing “Light of the World.”

Spin Doctor: Growing up in a family of medical professionals, Salazar was certain his destiny involved laughing gas and a scalpel. “At a very young age, I wanted to be a surgeon,” he recalls, but after landing the role of Seymour in his high school's production of The Little Shop of Horrors, the young performer learned he could make people laugh in a whole new way. “I love doing character voices and comedy,” he says of his quirky talents. “I used to write parodies of pop songs like Weird Al Yankovic.” Upon graduating from the University of Florida with a BFA in Musical Theatre, the Filipino/Ecuadorian actor knew a move north was the logical next step. “As an ethnic performer, I didn’t fit in,” Salazar says of finding work in his home state. “There wasn’t any other place for me but New York.”

All Good Gifts: Once in Manhattan, Salazar quickly nabbed a spot on the Spring Awakening national tour as Otto, an “unreal” first professional gig. “The music is so incredible and the story is beautiful. It’s not your grandma’s musical.” After the tour ended, Salazar spent three months waiting tables at Times Square’s Bubba Gump Shrimp Co., despite being “terribly allergic to shrimp,” before landing his principal role in Godspell. “It doesn’t feel like work,” he says of his Broadway debut. “It’s so wonderful being onstage with an incredibly talented cast of confident people that know who they are and own it!” And that includes Salazar: “I worked so hard and my dream came true, and it’s more than I ever thought it could be.”

Bless My Soul: Though Salazar learned to believe in his own talent as a child, he wasn’t taught to believe in a higher power. “My parents weren’t hippies, but they gave us the freedom to figure things out,” he says. “Through college, I struggled with finding spirituality—not necessarily religion, but just something to believe in.” These days, Salazar’s faith has never been stronger, and he has Godspell to thank. “Through this show I’ve had some sort of strange awakening,” he says. “At its core, the stories and the words that we speak and sing are so universal that’s it not about any one particular religion, it’s just about being good to your fellow man. Knowing that we are all brothers and sisters and that we need to take care of each other, that’s my spirituality now. I feel like a better human being through doing Godspell.”